10 comments on “Fill in the blank”

[…] referred to in the message – who forwarded it to us. On reading it, we immediately deleted the blog post describing the incident referred to out of respect for the wishes of the families concerned. We have redacted those parts of the […]

James

Charles I think if that is the familes wishes then that is the right course of action.

They must be having a dreadful time and be trying to come to terms with what has happened reminders in the local and/or nation press plus internet blogs will not help.

No reason not to have a generic blog about how important our duty is to care for the deceased.

I was involved with a similar situation where a family asked for no publicity and wanted the matter kept private and for only their close family to be aware. Unfortunately four months later the local papers discovered some of the events and ran an article which then appeared in the Sun.

An internal Funeralcare email has just fallen into our hands. It seems that the families involved in this case did not want any publicity but the local paper went ahead and blazoned it. The story has now got as far as the Daily Mail.

Jonathan

Sunday 10th February 2013 at 10:59 am

There’s every excuse, at least from the point of view of the underpaid and overworked and undervalued staff in these funeral factories, for whom I feel nothing but sympathy – they are most probably the ones feeling bad about this, while the management issues a one-size-fits-all, pre-programmed apology.

With stacks of bodies to choose from, and a bored workforce who have no connection to the grief of the bereaved family, the occasional mistake is almost inevitable, and it’s almost a certainty it has happened before; it wouldn’t have surprised me if efforts had been made to hide it – think back to the David Durden case when he forged a signature and you’ll catch my drift.

It’s not about excuses; it’s about turning what ought to be a public service into an industry, with forseeable consequences. It will only get worse.

Richard

Jed

Sunday 10th February 2013 at 12:41 am

Oh how awful for everyone concerned….all the processes and procedures in the world count for nothing if people ignore them – for whatever reason – carelessness, overwork, rushing, confusion, temporary staff – I don’t know what the reasons were…. It is something I’ve wondered about as the coffin is carried into the chapel, church, crem… Is it the right person inside? Presumably small independent companies where one or two people take care of everything from start to finish on their own premises have less risk of a mix up?